Opposition MP Evarist Bartolo highlights details of ongoing international criminal investigation into a complex web of murder, intrigue and scandal in which a Maltese company is understood to be involved. Share on print Share on email More Sharing ServicesShare this

Yesterday’s Parliamentary discussion took an unexpected turn, when Opposition MP Evarist Bartolo used his adjournment speech to highlight details of an ongoing international criminal investigation into a complex web of murder, intrigue and scandal in which a Maltese company is understood to be involved.

According to the investigation cited by Bartolo in parliament yesterday, a French-owned, Malta-based financial consultancy services called ‘Gifen’ is involved in a money-laundering operation which is in turn connected to: a €1 billion contract for the purchase of military submarines from France by the Malaysian government in 2002; allegations of a €114 million ‘commission’ that changed hands during negotiations between French and Malaysian officials; and – most sinister of all – the kidnapping and violent murder of a Mongolian modelling student in Malaysia in 2006.

In parliament yesterday, Bartolo revealed how this complex bribery/murder scenario, that has caused scandal in both Malaysia and France over the past decade, has now also managed to finds its way here to Malta: with a Maltese company currently being investigated by French officials over allegations of laundering part of the money involved in this transaction..

The former Education Minister revealed how French inquiring magistrates have now ordered the police to initiate an international investigation into a number of companies based in France, Luxembourg and Hong Kong – including one in Malta – as part of a global anti-corruption sting.

The story opens in June 2002, when, after three years of negotiations, the Malaysian government concluded a €1 billion deal with French company Armaris (now DCNS) and Spanish naval shipbuilder Izar (now Navantia) for the purchase of 2 SSK Scorpene submarines, as well as associated support and training.

The contract was signed by Malyasia’s minister of defense (now prime minister) Najib Razak, and allegations quickly followed that DCSN had previously been sold confidential information relating to their bid by Malaysian companies understood to be close to Razak.

One company named in the initial rumours was Perimekar, owned by Razak’s close associate, the prominent Malaysian businessman Abdul Razak Baginda.

But it was with the 2006 murder of 28-year-old Mongolian modelling student Altantuya Shaaribuu that suspicions of high-level corruption started to gain ground in earnest.

In March 2009, French Journalist Arnaud Dubus published a report in France’s Liberation, citing hundreds of confidential documents, which suggested a connection between the mysterious murder of the student-model, and a ‘commission’ of around €114 million paid to Perimekar in connection with the Scorpene submarine deal.

The motive for Altantuya’s death was reportedly that she had claimed a €500,000 share of the “commission” paid to Baginda (who appears to have also been her lover) for the purchase of the submarines… and then threatened to reveal all that she knew about this case if her demand was not met.

According to documents made public by French newspaper ‘Liberation’, Altantuya had been murdered on the orders of Abdul Razak Baginda, who was later acquitted on all charges by a Malaysian court.

However, Prime Minister Razak himself has now been implicated in the associated bribery deal, and Dubus’ report includes details of text messages he had reportedly sent Baginda, which in turn strongly imply a cover-up and interference with police investigations.

The kidnapping itself was carried out in broad daylight in front of Baginda’s house in the presence of eye-witnesses. And in a detail that could easily have emerged from a James Bond movie, the perpetrators were later identified only because the taxi-driver who had been hired by Altantuya for the day, reported the kidnapper’s car licence plate to the police… officially as part of a complaint that he had not been paid for his services.

Police investigations traced the vehicle to Malaysian Special Branch police, causing embarrassment to the government, and awakening curiosity among the local press.

But while the Malaysia investigations have apparently stalled, French investigators soon took an interest in a case which appears (if allegations are true) to also point fingers at one of France’s top names in the shipbuilding industry.

French investigating magistrates are now looking into a Hong Kong-based company called Terasasi (Hong Kong) Ltd. Abdul Razak Baginda is listed as one of the two directors of the company. The other director is his father, Abdul Malim Baginda.

Where does Malta come in?

In parliament yesterday, Evarist Bartolo revealed that among the several companies worldwide currently investigated by French authorities in connection with this case is Gifen: a Malta-based company founded in 2001 by Frenchman Jean-Marie Bouvin, who has long been associated with the sale of military and defence equipment to countries such as Malaysia, Pakistan and Taiwan.

On paper, Gifen offers consultancy services, and Bartolo said in parliament yesterday that its sole director is listed as David Grech, with Noelle Grima as company secretary until March 2011, when Edward Attard Montalto also joined the firm.

Its auditors are Attard Giglio and Co.

Bartolo noted also that Gifen’s most active years were between 2001 and 2004, with an income of almost €1.5 million, while its registered expenses took the form of ‘consultancy services’ and ‘travelling expenses’.

Bartolo added that French investigators are currently looking into whether Gifen was used “to facilitate the movement of money involved in this contract”, as well as to pay for travelling expenses incurred by Baginda and Altantuya. Other companies allegedly used for similar purposes are Eurolux (based in Luxembourg) and Technomar, based in Belgium.

Bartolo further alleged that Bouvin, who had founded Gifen in 2001, was very well-connected with the French secret services, and close ties both with (then) President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister de Villepin.

According to the Opposition MP, Bouvin would pay commissions, through a company called Heine, in order to secure successful bids for public contracts.

After France signed the UN Convention Against Corruption, Bouvin allegedly began to operate though different channels – setting up companies in Ireland, Switzerland, Mauritius, the Isle of Man… and Malta.

Bartolo added that responsibility to regulate such operations in Malta fell to the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit and the Malta Financial Services Authority, and that the reputation of Malta as a centre for financial services was at stake. He reminded the Houseof a report by the Council of Europe’s Committee on Money Laundering, which had observed that Malya’s legislation is good, but enforcement is lacking.

French prosecutors investigating the biggest French arms sales to Malaysia involving two submarines and a second-hand ship costing a billion euro have discovered that a company called 'Gifen' based in Malta played an important part together with other companies based in Luxembourg, Belgium and Hong Kong in funneling millions of euros paid to companies run by friends of the present Prime Minister of Malaysia Razak Najib. Najib was the Minister of Defence of Malaysia who signed the deal in 2002.

Gifen was set up in Malta by Jean-Marie Bouvin who has been also heavily involved in other shady deals of sales by the French state company DCN of submarines to Pakistan and frigates to Taiwan.

French prosecutors discovered the company Gifen registered in Malta by Peralta Custodian Limited after they looked into bank vaults and scrutinized contracts, memoranda of understanding (MOU), memoranda of intent (MOI), invoices and bank accounts of various people including Abdul Razak Baginda, a very close friend of Prime Minister Najib. They have also looked at internal confidential reports of DCN and the French Ministry of Defence. They have interviewed officials in the French state company, DCN and related companies such as Thales as well as officials in the French ministry of defence.

Bouvin set up Gifen and other similar companies in other countries to bypass anti corruption laws and conventions signed by France in 2000.

Before that year French companies used to bribe foreign politicians and government officials to win contracts and the sums paid were deducted from their taxes. Companies owned by friends of the present Malaysian Prime Minister were paid €114 million for services rendered to secure the contract.

But since after the year 2000 such payments became punishable by prison and fines, French companies created fictitious companies like Gifen to conceal the money paid in bribes to politicians and officials to win contracts.

These companies were referred to as "service providers". The method used was to create "service providers" that could "increase invoices" in order to take the place of commissions.

The French investigation shows that a commercial engineering contract was then signed between DCNI and Thales (also involved in the submarine and ship sales to Malaysia), referred to as "C5".

The "C5? contract covered €30 million paid in commercial costs overseas. The companies used to cover these costs were "Gifen in Malta, Eurolux in Luxemburg and Technomar in Belgium".

The travel expenses of Baginda and Altantuya Shaariibuu were covered by money provided by Gifen and the other two companies. Shaariibuu was murdered in 2006 after she threatened to spill all the beans on the billion euro submarine deal when a €500,000 commission promised to her was not paid.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 — Even as Datuk Seri Najib Razak dithers on a date for the 13th general election following reports that his Chinese and Indian support has slipped, arch-rival Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has expressed confidence of leading Pakatan Rakyat (PR) into a "comfortable" majority win in the coming polls.

The opposition leader predicted last night a minimum 10-seat margin in Parliament between the federal opposition and the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), owing to significant inroads made in Umno's Johor bastion as well as BN's east Malaysian fortresses of Sabah and Sarawak.

Anwar even hinted of a coming "surprise" to be announced soon in Sabah, which he claimed would change the entire political landscape of the state, where BN presently holds 59 of 60 state seats.

"I'm absolutely certain, Insya'Allah, that we will perform much better… enough to secure a simple, comfortable majority in Putrajaya," an optimistic Anwar told the Foreign Correspondents Club of Malaysia (FCCM) dinner talk last night.

Anwar revealed that PR's strategy was for PKR and PAS to focus on breaking Umno's chokehold over Malay votes, claiming that Umno has "given up" on the Chinese and Indian voters.

"Umno's strategy is to consolidate support among the Malays… which is positive for us that they've given up on the ethnic Chinese, ethnic Indians, over the Malays.

"Our strategy for PKR and PAS is to focus on the Malay seats. That is why you see the prime minister's announcements on Felda… the battle ground is still the Malay seats," he said.

Independent pollster Merdeka Center recently found that Najib's approval rating had seen a marked decline among Indian and Chinese voters just weeks after a tumultuous Bersih 3.0 rally.

The poll, carried out between May 10 and 18, found that 72 per cent out of Indian voters were satisfied with Najib as prime minister — an eight point drop from February this year.

It also found that Chinese support for the PM had dropped 19 points from a 56 per cent in February. Only 37 per cent from this segment polled now supported Najib.

Malay voter support for Najib, however, experienced a five-point increase, from 74 per cent in February to 79 per cent in May this year.

A total of 1,019 registered voters — 59 per cent Malay, 32 per cent Chinese and 9 per cent Indian —were polled three weeks after the April 28 Bersih rally that took place here.

Both the BN and PR have gone through great pains to shore up non-Malay voter support ahead of an expected election, which must be called before the middle of next year.

The survey findings, however, suggest that BN's support, especially among the Indian community — traditionally pro-BN — is slipping way.

Despite Najib's soaring Malay support, however, Anwar insisted that not all among the electorate were happy with the ruling coalition.

He claimed that even within Najib's home ground of Pekan, there were Felda settlers unhappy with plans to list Felda Global Ventures Holdings (FGVH) on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange, despite the promised "windfall" of RM15,000 for each family.

"Today (yesterday), R. Sivarasa (Subang MP) and another lawyer filed for 670 settlers in Pekan a suit against the decision [to list] Felda. This may not change the landscape but it shows the intense battle because these families come from those who are former Umno members and supporters themselves," he said.

He added that many among the Malays were also angry with the racially-charged abuses against Bersih 2.0 chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, whom the opposition openly support, and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, who has been repeatedly labelled as anti-Malay.

This, he said, contributes to his optimism that PR could wrest Putrajaya from BN in the coming polls with a minimum 10 to 15-seat margin in the 222-seat Parliament.

In Election 2008, Anwar led the opposition to deny BN its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority by securing 82 of the 222 seats and winning in five states.

He noted that the opposition's success in the 2008 general election was largely due to the political tsunami in the peninsula while east Malaysians had largely remained supportive of BN.

"[But] I am quite optimistic. The issue now is Sabah and Sarawak. We had popular support (in 2008) in terms of votes here in the peninsula but we lost miserably in Sabah and Sarawak.

"But for the last four years, we have tried so hard and we have capable leaders now. And now in Sarawak, if you go to any longhouse, the Ibans…. they speak of (anti-BN station) Radio Free Sarawak.

"You are also in for some surprises in Sabah… I think very soon you will hear… and this would change the political landscape. We are certainly making inroads and we are able to win more seats… enough to have a simple majority," he said.

Anwar later described Najib's leadership as "weak", accusing the prime minister of being too "scared" of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whose statements have been hitting media headlines of late.

Among others, Dr Mahathir had recently said that BN was still weak, owing to the former premiership of Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, even adding that the pact should delay the polls to recapture some of its lost support from the Chinese and Indian communities.

Anwar said Dr Mahathir only wields a "small influence", but due to Najib's "weak leadership", "outfits" linked to the former prime minister like Malay right wing group Perkasa have been allowed to spread their influence among the Malay electorate.

"But do not underestimate…," Anwar warned BN. "I do not believe the Malays support such abuses against Ambiga and Guan Eng. I don't think so."

Anwar also dismissed calls on PR to reveal its shadow Cabinet before the next polls, saying this was not an oft-practised system in Malaysia.

He pointed out that within PR, there exists three-member "shadow committees" tasked to take on a variety of specialised issues.

"It is difficult for us to name (the shadow Cabinet) because we do not know which party gets what and how many seats.

"The representation in Cabinet will be reflective of our performance in the election," he explained.

Anwar also revealed that PR would prepare a paper next week on the pact's economic policies focusing on how to dismantle the Mahathir administration's New Economic Policy (NEP), which he claimed would focus on needs-based affirmative action.